In fields as diverse as fabrication of semiconductors, micro- machining, and monitoring/processing of biological samples, micromanipulators are used to hold small workpieces or probes and to move such items in one, two or three dimensions relative to a fixed base or reference point. Many apparati have been developed and offered to fill these needs. Examples are: eight three-dimensional manipulators, offered with a magnetic tape base, a rare earth magnet base or a vacuum base by The Micromanipulator Company, Inc. of Carson City, Nev.; a plurality of models for two- and three-dimensional movement for use with microscope-controlled positioning and offered by Karl Suss America, Inc. of Waterbury, Vt.; five models offered by Wentworth Labs., Inc. of Brookfield, Conn. for one-, two- and three-dimensional translation by manual or electromagnetic control; three models for one- and three-dimensional translation offered by Signatone of Santa Clara, Calif.; five models for three-axis movement offered by GGB Industries, Inc. of Naples, Fla.; and three models for three-axis translation offered by Rucker & Kolls of Santa Clara, Calif.
In many of these apparati, if a workpiece or probe is translated in a first horizontal direction, the height of the workpiece or probe, measured in a vertical direction, changes by an amount that varies with the amount of horizontal translation. Further, upon closer examination, many of these micromanipulators are of complex construction and are therefore relatively expensive and subject to malfunction or disfunction as parts wear accumulates.
What is needed is a relatively simple apparatus, with few moving parts, that allows translation in up to three perpendicular directions so that translation along a horizontal axis does not substantially affect the workpiece coordinates measured in a plane perpendicular to this axis.